The present invention relates in general to automotive enclosure devices and in particular to a tonneau cover for recreational vehicles.
Recently, sales of smaller, four-wheel drive all-terrain vehicles have greatly increased. Several automotive manufacturers market these vehicles which can be outfitted with various optional equipment which make the vehicle close to luxurious.
Several of these vehicles are commonly manufactured with a front cab unit and rear load bed for hauling equipment and can usually be modified with an optional rear seat for conversion to a more "station wagon" type of vehicle. Until most recently these vehicles were sold without a roof, requiring the purchase of an optional fiberglass roof unit which extended from the top of the windshield all the way back and down to the tailgate of the load bed. After marketing several of these vehicles, it was found that the long length of such an optional fiberglass roof unit prompted plastic deformation of the roof with the possibility of resulting cracks. etc. in areas of plastic fatigue. More recently, models of these recreational vehicles are being sold and distributed with a roof that extends from the rear of the passenger compartment to the tailgate with a substantially shorter length and better wearability characteristics.
The particular vehicle for which my invention is intended has an integrated roof from the top of the windshield to the rear of the passenger compartment, ending directly in back of the front seating area at a roll bar. The vehicle is often provided with a removable roof and side panel continuation which extends from the rear of the roll bar to the end of the tailgate, thus covering the load bed portion directly beneath it which is used for loading equipment or can be modified for passengers by the addition of a rear seat unit. While this rigid top, being shorter in length than previous ones does not encounter the plastic fatigue problems associated with the earlier longer and optional roof top, the newer top can still provide some problems for the user of the vehicle. While the conventionally provided recreational vehicle roof and side enclosures assembly provides good resistance to moisture and the elements of weather for the vehicle, they are often difficult to mount, and often cumbersome to position in place adjacent to the rear of the passenger compartment and over the load bed.
It should be noted that recreational vehicles of the type herein discussed are provided without rear compartment enclosure means. In other words, while the passenger cab has a windshield, side windows, and a roof in the cab, there is no cover or window continuing from the roof down to the load bed area so that the rear portion of the cab remains unenclosed. It becomes obvious that in most applications of the vehicle the conventionally equipped rigid enclosure compartment must be used if only for the purpose of covering and enclosing the passengers within the cab.
Just such a rigid cumbersome, usually fiberglass, enclosure device is very difficult to store besides being heavy and unwieldy in mounting. Similarly, a rigid, custom-fitted top makes it virtually impossible to cover just a portion of the rear cab or a portion of the load bed of the recreational vehicle which, under particular circumstances, may not be desirable. When the rigid, conventional roof is on, it covers and encloses both the rear window and the load bed completely, having no capacity for partial placement over one or the other respectively.
Similarly, the rear window of the rigid enclosure apparatus is at the rear of the vehicle and together with the structural framework of the side appendages extending down from the roof, tends to reduce the visibility of the driver from the cab to the rear of the vehicle. The rigid roof and side enclosure device also describes a set compartment configuration within the enclosed vehicle, making difficult the use of the vehicle under circumstances when equipment or goods being hauled extend higher than the roof or are wider than the fabricated sides of the assembly. Associated with this problem is the fact that when such a rigid roof is attached, access to the load bed is limited to a substantially rectangular opening formed at the back of the load bed when the tailgate is down and the window of the roof assembly is up; and to the front compartment when the passenger seats are folded down to enable access.
A rigid roof of the type herein described further increases the outer exposed surface area of the vehicle making the vehicle more susceptible to wind resistance and air drafts when being driven, tending to hurt the handling of such a vehicle. Additionally, the structure of the conventionally provided rigid roof assembly, with its glass side panels and glass rear panel, has the effect of enabling persons outside the vehicle to view equipment loaded into the bed of the vehicle itself, a characteristic which can be highly undesirable when the vehicle is loaded with equipment and other valuables.
It is thus an objective of the present invention to provide a panel cover which appropriately covers the rear cab passenger compartment and load bed simultaneously with weather-resistant material to enclose the cab and load bed areas of such a vehicle from the elements of the weather and the like and, which, in one embodiment, separates the cab compartment from that of the load bed so as to more appropriately preserve heat and air conditioning for the passengers rather than to the equipment loaded in the back of the vehicle.
It is additionally an object of the present invention to provide facilitated mounting features for the user of such a vehicle while being easy to store and taking up little space in the vehicle when not in use.
It is similarly an object of the invention to provide partial covering features in which any desired portion of the rear cab compartment or the load bed can be maintained while enabling enclosure of one completely independent of the enclosure of the other. These capabilities increase the flexibility of the use of such a vehicle by enabling the vehicle to carry unenclosed goods or revert back to carrying totally enclosed goods at a moment's notice.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an enclosure device which allows a reduction in the weight of a recreational vehicle, thus enabling the carrying of heavier payloads, while reducing wind resistance and airdrag on highways, while keeping carried equipment and valuables out of sight, as well as a covering apparatus which can be mounted quickly and easily, capable of utilizing the present rigid roof-mounting apparatus already provided with the vehicle.
These and other objectives of the invention will become apparent from the following disclosure.